Cherry Tomatoes

I think that’s the last of my cherry tomatoes. Just as well really, I was getting totally sick of them. We had sooooo many. It was a bad year for tomatoes in the Wellington region and nearly all mine ended up being cherry-sized.

I even had to buy a couple of kilos to produce the year’s supply of tomato chutney. Neither us nor our friends, can live without the all-time famed Anna & Richard’s Tomato Chutney. (Recipe not forth-coming – you can have anything else, just not my tomato chutney recipe. It’s the sauce of my popularity. I shall not share!)

We’ve made a gallant effort with our bite-sized crop but I’m fed up with the rest and I’ve been jarring them. Here’s how. Bottled cherry tomato recipe after the jump…

Bottled Cherry Tomatoes

—  Preheat the oven to 120°C.

—  Prick the skin of each tomato before stuffing them into a clean, dry jar.

—  Squeeze in 5 or 6 garlic cloves around the edges.

—  Add your choice of bay leaves, thyme, or basil.

—  Add in salt and sugar (1 teaspoon of each per 1-litre jar).

—  Squish in some more tomatoes – pack them in nice and tight.

—  Fill the jars up to the top with water and rest the lids on top. Do not seal!

—  Stand them on a piece of cardboard on top of a baking tray in the oven.

—  After about 45 mins, when the juice is simmering, remove from the jars and screw the top on tight. If you are reusing jars from the supermarket that have a pop-up top, the pop-bit will flatten as they cool. This is a good thing!

—  Put on a nice label with a best before date (6 months from now). Store in a cool dark place.

These babies are wonderful with pasta but also make a fantastic pizza topping. Enjoy!